golden dream bay, the stacked towers of moshe safdie are erected in china

safdie architects takes a radical new step toward the future of affordable housing with this massive 4.8 million sqft, 2,500 unit apartment building. located in qinhuangdao, china, 200 miles east of beijing, the structure is located on the coast of the bohai sea, allowing for incredible views from the various units. the development — titled ‘golden dream bay’ — also contains some 60,000 sqft of retail space, to be filled soon with all types of amenities. overall the tower complex offers interesting new solutions to our various 21st century problems.

all images courtesy of kerry properties and safdie architects

moshe safdie, the famed architect behind ‘habitat 67’ in montreal, has long been at the cutting edge of creating high quality affordable housing. this marks another step forward in his long legacy. like his previous work, this project also thinks of new ways to accommodate the many different families and residents in this large tower complex.  as always, safdie takes the humanistic approach, and tries to make every apartment comfortable with access to the various human comforts. the concrete design weaves in the sky to allow as many connected cube-like terraces as possible. furthermore the stacked configuration of the the towers allows for more natural light in the various apartments as well as more access to views of the ocean.

‘the demand for quality, affordable housing in asia’s growing cities has allowed us to apply the principles that informed habitat 67 on a grand scale,’ said moshe safdie. ‘the increased density of today’s cities requires us to rethink building types to maintain a sense of community, while ensuring privacy and private outdoor space. by breaking down the megascale, we aren’t building units; we’re building homes. golden dream bay offers a new model for high density housing, one where the level of amenities surpasses that of the typical high-rise complex, without sacrificing the structure’s efficiency or humanity.’

the complex consists of a series of individual 15-story slab buildings that connect and stack vertically, in two tiers, rising to 30 stories. the buildings are staggered, with units arranged in a stepped pattern, which creates ‘skyways’ at the 16th and 30th levels. each unit has maximum exposure, and a majority of apartments contain terraces and gardens. by siting the tower blocks north-south, together with the stepped profile, the solution maximizes construction efficiency, and maintains the benefits of the individual dwelling with terraces, skylights, and solariums.

however, this is only the first phase of the project, with the construction is only part complete. the second stage will add a spine of 4-story low-rise villas running east-west along the beachfront. meanwhile, two point towers, at a height of 328 feet, will form the eastern edge of the site. finally, two additional 328-foot towers will be built at the eastern entrance to the site.

project info:

design architect: safdie architects
moshe safdie (design principal); david brooks, sean scensor, carrie yoon (project principals); david orens (project director); daniel cho, michael guran, shiyun qian, ivy sun, nan xiang, ye yang (project team)
local design institute: china shanghai architectural design & research institute co. ltd